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Laura's letter re. Open Space Memorial Benches
<br />Open Space Advisory Board
<br />Minutes
<br />February 11th 2015
<br />Page 6 of 7
<br />January
<br />26, 2015
<br />Dear Fellow OSAB members,
<br />I've spent the last few months mulling over the topic of memorial benches on City of Louisville Open
<br />Space properties, and I want to share my current thoughts on the topic with the rest of the board. Though
<br />several of the ideas and issues I'm presenting here grew out of discussions that the board has had in
<br />meetings, this letter should be interpreted to represent my opinions alone, and not that of the board. First, I
<br />am going to list several of my major concerns on the topic of memorial benches, then I will present several
<br />possible way to go forward that the board and /or City may wish to consider.
<br />Issue #1: "Open Space aesthetics & the Department of Open Space's purview"
<br />The memorial benches that I have observed on Open Space are understated and tasteful and I have no
<br />objection to any one particular memorial. That said, I believe that at a high enough density of memorial
<br />benches, our Open Space begins to feel like a cemetery. I believe a chief responsibility of our city is to
<br />keep our wild spaces as wild as possible, keeping a wild aesthetic. There are places where benches are
<br />appropriate for Open Space, particularly on short trails with views, such as Harper Lake, Helca Lake, and
<br />Lake Park, where people may wish to spend significant amounts of time. I question how much sitting is
<br />done on mile 3 of a 4.5 mile loop around Davidson Mesa. One or two benches are helpful, benches every
<br />quarter mile are redundant.
<br />Likewise, I believe that creating and maintaining memorials of any sort is out of the purview of the City's
<br />Open Space policy of preserving and managing wild land, and out of the Open Space Staffs area of
<br />expertise. This program puts an undue burden on the city's Open Space staff who are already overtaxed
<br />with obligations. In my opinion, there are many projects involving land maintenance, remediation, and
<br />study that are being currently under- addressed by staff that are far higher priorities to the health of our land
<br />than managing the placement, installation, and maintenance of memorial benches.
<br />Issue #2: "Cost" & "The City's obligation"
<br />According to the City of Louisville Cemetery webpage (Jan, 2015), the standard burial fees and a plot for a
<br />Louisville resident is $2350. Commercial grave marker websites price flat grave markers around $500,
<br />upright markers starting at $1000, and benches starting at $1300 (these prices do not include installation).
<br />According to funeralwise.com (Jan, 2015), traditional burial costs, including caskets, burials, and
<br />associated materials run around $5,000- $10,000. Currently, Open Space is charging about $1,200 (the cost
<br />of bench and installation, according to Ember) for a memorial bench on Open Space. To me, this suggests
<br />that the current Open Space memorial bench program is a significantly cheaper memorial option than a
<br />traditional cemetery-type plot. Many people might prefer their family member's marker to be outside of a
<br />cemetery, and this program allows them this option at what represents a significant bargain. Given the
<br />limited supply of bench sites available and the possible demand, I feel like this cost may be undervaluing
<br />their worth.
<br />Furthermore, the actual cost of the benches to the city is effectively unknown, as there has been no agreed -
<br />upon maintenance established for them. They are considered city property, so maintenance for them
<br />presumably falls to the city. The City of Louisville Cemetery has a 19 -page Rules and Regulations
<br />document in which the city's obligations for maintenance of burial plots and grave markers is clearly
<br />documented (available on the City website, revised May, 2014). This document specifies the city will
<br />maintain the plot in perpetuity from funds established by a cemetery trust maintained by the city.
<br />However, it also specifies that if a grave marker is damaged by an "act of god" (including vandalism) the
<br />city cannot be held responsible for its repair. Currently, it is unclear who will repair damaged memorial
<br />benches, and whether they will be repaired/replaced as memorials. The Cemetery's document also
<br />specifies that things such as candles, beads, shells, plantings, and toys cannot be left at grave -sites so that "a
<br />uniform beauty may be maintained," and will be removed by staff, if found. Open Space has not
<br />established specific rules for items left at memorial benches, and City staff is sometimes uncertain about
<br />how to handle these sorts of personal memorial items when they are found (personal communication from
<br />Ember).
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